# UK Tax on Imported Tobacco



## Thebigfella (Jul 28, 2013)

I so want to order from US cigar sites and from EU cigar sites, but nearly all state that the buyer needs to take care of UK taxes as they cannot be held responsible for them. Trouble is, that UK import tax on tobacco has to be assumed by the seller and has to satisfy inspection that tax has been paid before it arrives in the UK. If the postal office are not satisfied that the UK Import tax has been paid, they do not hold your order, inform you and allow you to pay the taxes and send the items on. They destroy them. You lose the money you have already paid and get nothing back in return.

How is this justified? By the UK government stating that it is all the fault of 'dodgy' unregulated websites who don't pay UK taxes. From the research I have done, that is every cigar sales site I have found that give a statement about taxes and who is responsible for paying them in the destination country. So the government thinks that they must all be dodgy? Hmmmmm.

This isn't just a rant about how crap the situation here is. I wanted to ask UK based Puff members (and those who have at some point been UK based) how they have found the 'buying from non-UK cigar sites' situation and whether they have actually had losses of cigar orders? If it is one of those unenforceable laws that means that I should just go ahead and order what I want without fear of losing hundreds if pounds, then PLEEEEEEASE tell me ASAP! That would make my year!


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## JustinThyme (Jun 17, 2013)

WHOA! And I thought the US laws were lame. I'm afraid I would be hunting someone down for destroying my merchandise. The worst you will get in the US is getting banged by UPS for a "brokerage fee" on imports. They charge a flat rate of like $38 even if the tariff was only $2. International business can be a bear. If the seller knows they are responsible for the tariff they should have paid it but in the same sense that is not a US law so they don't have to abide by it and you have little to no recourse across international boarders. I used to do a lot of international work and always made them pay me in advance. They always wanted me to do the work first then be invoiced and my response was always the same.....EFF You! I do the work, you refuse to pay and there wouldn't be a damn thing I could do about it! I went round and round with the Russian Federation as they paid for 2 months at a whack but always forced things into overtime so the 2 months would be up early. Oh just stay and bill us....No, you transfer funds before the drop dead and or I'm on the flight that you had to pay for already and I'm outta here! Like clock work they never paid and I would fly back to the states for 2-3 weeks then they would pay up for another 2 months. Worst part is they were only screwing themselves as they would want me back right away and I don't do coach on international flights so the airfare alone was costing them about $6K each time, then the extra $200 for a rush on the VISA.....IDIOTS!


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## Favvers (Jan 30, 2013)

Nick, don't order yet. I'll pm you - there is a solution.


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## c10cko (Mar 14, 2013)

Favvers said:


> Nick, don't order yet. I'll pm you - there is a solution.


Oh let's talk Friday too.......


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## Favvers (Jan 30, 2013)

c10cko said:


> Oh let's talk Friday too.......


Definitely!


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## Thebigfella (Jul 28, 2013)

Favvers said:


> Nick, don't order yet. I'll pm you - there is a solution.


Cool. Let me know, I cannot wait to access some of the offers from the US. They just seem to be so much more geared toward letting working people with a smaller disposable income enjoy premium smokes!


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## Favvers (Jan 30, 2013)

Hope the PMs sorted it out Nick, talk soon.


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## NasierK (Dec 4, 2013)

Favvers said:


> Hope the PMs sorted it out Nick, talk soon.


Having the same problem here in the Netherlands. Would love to hear your solution if it works for another EU country too.


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## esquire47 (Feb 11, 2014)

Any chance I could also be PMed the same info, please?


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## sligub (Apr 6, 2011)

esquire47 said:


> Any chance I could also be PMed the same info, please?


Josh send me a PM when you get access and I will fill you in


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## esquire47 (Feb 11, 2014)

Thanks man, God bless you!


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## jmacn (Jan 28, 2014)

sligub said:


> Josh send me a PM when you get access and I will fill you in


I'd love to know how to get around this too. Could you PM me the information?

Thanks, man.


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## momo439 (Nov 8, 2013)

Would this solution be applicable to Canadians? Perhaps all non-US. Smokers could benefit from this?


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## dmacleod28 (Oct 30, 2013)

i would love to find out about this as well i am in the uk and it is very frustrating


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## ace_labrone (May 1, 2013)

Is it possible to send your order to someone in the US and have them ship it to UK without paying the import tax? I might be willing to help out in the regard if it works. Someone shoot me a PM and let's talk about it, if it is possible.


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## dmacleod28 (Oct 30, 2013)

ace_labrone said:


> Is it possible to send your order to someone in the US and have them ship it to UK without paying the import tax? I might be willing to help out in the regard if it works. Someone shoot me a PM and let's talk about it, if it is possible.


I would love to find someone to do this with and Of course there would be a little something in the package for them as well ;-)


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## southoz (Sep 13, 2009)

It’s the same here in Australia, as of March 2018 anything over 25 grams gets taxed at 92cents per gram of tobacco. So you can only import 1,2 or 3 cigars at a time (depending on size).


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